Creamy and funky, Camembert is one of the world’s great cheeses. It’s the second-most-popular cheese in its homeland of France, where it’s been around since the late 18th century. Despite its popularity, the raw cow’s milk cheese is under threat.

Real Camembert cheese is made with 38 per cent fat raw milk in the northwest region of Normandy; frequent crackdowns on unpasteurized milk products may make it a relic of the past. A hair over one per cent of the 360 million wheels of Camembert produced each year are the authentic product, Bloomberg reports, and this scant number is rapidly dwindling.

To be labelled PDO Camembert de Normandie, the Normandy cows must eat a specific diet of local grass and hay, and the raw milk ladled by hand in four distinct layers (among many other requirements), Business Insider reports. Industrial producers are increasingly buying out small, artisanal cheesemakers and selling fake, pasteurized versions under the protected Camembert name.

A mere one per cent of the 360 wheels of Camembert produced today are the authentic product.Charly Triballeau /
AFP/Getty Images

There are just a few farmhouse producers of real Camembert left in Normandy: Domaine de Saint Loup, La Ferme du Champ Secret and Fromagerie Durand. These cheesemakers make Camembert in accordance with the PDO specifications using only milk from their own herds.

To make sure you’re getting the real thing, avoid wheels labelled Camembert Fabrique en Normandie. Instead look for the PDO Camembert de Normandie stamp – a sign of the authentic, gold-standard product. (In order to be sold in Canada, raw milk cheeses must be aged for a minimum of 60 days.)